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Student Number: 2 2 7 5 9 9 3

Course Title: European and International Security Strategies

Essay/Assignment Title: Does the EU’s new Global Strategy respond to new security
challenges or is it largely a continuation of the EU’s previous security policy?

Course Co-ordinator: Ammon Cheskin

Date of Submission: 17 February 2016

Word Count: 2753

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Responding to the findings of a strategic assessment carried out in 2015, by High Representative of
the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini, a new Global Strategy was
presented in June 2016 in order to take action against the new security challenges Europe faced.
Understanding the need to respond to these new challenges, this Global Strategy would result in
significant changes of Europe’s foreign policy as well as its approach at tackling security issues. Since
the previous Strategy that was presented in 2003, which focused on promoting the interests of its
citizens and European values to the rest of the world, new security challenges emerged which had to
be addressed and reviewed. Such challenges include but are not limited to climate change,
transnational terrorism, conflicts in Africa, energy, and natural resources which are rapidly becoming
scarce and could possibly lead to even more conflicts. These new issues created some instability
around the globe and posed a threat to EU citizens, which is why a new and evolved Global Strategy
was presented in 2016. The Union has a responsibility towards its citizens, to ensure their safety as
well as present them with the countless opportunities that developed over the decade. These
opportunities, such as advancements in technology, would allow citizens all over the world to live
better and healthier lives. With this new strategy and the construction of new policies, the European
Union can address these new issues as well as take advantage of the new opportunities in this
complex yet more connected world we live in and protect its citizens. This paper will focus on the
new threats and challenges Europe acknowledges in its new Global Strategy and with an emphasis
given to Europe’s CSDP as a method of implementing and responding to these issues. Is this new
strategy a good one in terms of responding to new threats?

The new global security strategy emphasizes that the EU must deal with a more connected,
contested and complex world. Globalization is a key factor in the evolution of the challenges Europe
and the rest of the world face in 2016. In this more connected world, human mobility has increased
within the last decade as well as connectivity amongst individuals from different parts of the world
through the internet. This could be viewed as an expansion of the European culture and values
across the world. Human mobility and migration are very important factors contributing to Europe’s
economy, however, they are also one of the major threats the EU faces today. With the high numbers
of people migrating to different countries due to climate change, conflicts in their home countries,
there is a high risk of transnational terrorism as well as the spread of pandemics. The advancement
of technology and the increase of the use of internet services is a utility that benefits users as well as
making them vulnerable to cyber-crime, “Globalisation empowers individuals – for good or ill.” 1

Additionally, international markets are even more connected now in terms of trading however this
could also be viewed as a threat as resources are becoming scarce and competition for them is
increasing. This is a major factor affecting international relations and foreign policies. An example of
this is the ‘Asian Paradox’: although the region’s economy is sustained by integration, and
international connectivity, there is a concern of “fragmented security environment” due to
competition of different powers in the region. 2 Europe is also becoming more connected with an
additional 13 states becoming members, as well as the Lisbon Treaty which emphasised that a united
European defence and security policy would improve the Union’s external relations policies. Because
of this developing interconnected world, Europe’s foreign policy will face some implications and has
to shift and evolve as well. Security crises that move beyond Europe’s borders could deepen that
cooperation of its Member States and thus create a more integrated and powerful Europe with a
1
2015 strategy pp. 130
2
Ibid.
stronger Common Security and Defence Policy. Through a stronger CSDP, Europe will strengthen its
NATO pillar and thus reinforce their partnership.

In a more contested world, the aim for an interdependence paired with each nation having its own
identity and interests could result in conflicts rising. A great challenge that Europe faces today, is the
overdependence certain nations have on Russia and Russia’s success at destabilising them by taking
away their freedom. An example of this is the Ukraine which has part of it captured by the Russian
government. What Europe aims to do is to protect its neighbouring countries by enforcing stronger
border military and police forces to maintain peace within the union and its borders. The majority of
population growth coming from African, and the continent’s GDP remaining at a low percentage, this
will lead to poverty which could potentially with gender and wealth inequalities still high this will
lead to more radicalization and increase in migration.

Furthermore, climate change and resources rapidly becoming scarce is a challenge as international
conflicts could arise affecting Africa mostly at first, and then impacting the rest of the world like a
domino effect. Climate change is a very important and major threat the world faces today and one
way of combating this is through renewable energy sources. New sources of energy have been
discovered and are being used to address this issue. Oil will soon run out, with the prices shooting up
ad in order to sustain the rapidly growing population Europe has to respond to these challenges in a
strategic manner. This could potentially harm Europe, not in terms of climate change affecting the
continent and its member states directly, but indirectly as well, through migration and more
radicalization.

Advancements in technology offers a list of opportunities for Europe such as industrial development,
however, it could also be considered a challenge. These advancements “could favour the proliferation
of WMDs and the development of sophisticated conventional arms such as lethal autonomous
weapons systems.”3 With cyber security being a priority in terms of security strategies, Europe must
respond to these cyber threats to ensure the protections of its citizens. The need to defend the
country from such threats is imminent. The use of the internet has given terrorism more access to
critical information as well as help them radicalize and recruit more people. This new and more
contested world, more external challenges arise such as nationalism and this makes Member States
more vulnerable to the outside world. With a major threat being the radicalization of people, Europe
is required “to put a premium not only on enhanced border management, data protection” 4 and
start defending itself with better security and defence policies. The strategy focuses on a new vision
of a united Europe and a shared vision across the world. It wants to shift the way it thought of its
foreign policy and evolve that to meet the requirements of this new world and cater to its citizens.

Even though the world is more complex now, the US will still have economic and financial dominance
by the year 2030 thus creating an opportunity to keep a good transatlantic relationship. Europe’s
vision of being a future leader in the world is plausible according to the strategy, however, by doing
so it must stop over relying on external forces and act as a unity. Europe must act as a strategically
autonomous continent first without severing ties with its allies and NATO. Russia has noted an
increase in their defence spending by 30% 5 which should have convinced Europe to do the same in

3
Figure it out
4
Figure it out 2015 strate
5
Figure it out 2015
terms of increasing their defence budget and giving more emphasis on their Common Security and
Defence Policies. In this complex world, more countries such as China, some African states and the
Middle East, are becoming more developed as well as gaining more power, however each power has
their own national interests with their own ideologies and policies. This will create large differences
amongst these soon to be great powers in terms of politics and strategic competitiveness. An
important factor in this strategy is “the shift from a world of nation states to a networked globe of
state, non-state, inter-state and transnational actors.” 6 Europe has to maintain its alliance across the
Atlantic, the US, in order to address certain global issues that are arising. The US is very similar to
Europe in terms of fundamental values: social, economic and political. Europe aims to reinforce this
relationship the two continents have and build on their common interests. Europe aims to develop
its defence and security policies and capabilities to ensure the safety of its citizens and become
strategically autonomous. Europe’s Common Defence and Security Policy could “work with NATO to
sharpen its focus on crisis management and hybrid threats.” 7 To be able to respond to these threats
the EU has to focus more on ways of implementing these threats and act as whole instead of broken
down between individual nations.

The request for a new EU strategy was to respond to the challenges and significant changes of this
new and evolved global environment. The assessment emphasized that the world is becoming more
connected, contested and complex and stated that the 2003 strategy had to be modified in order to
adhere with this new globalized interconnected world. The assessment focused on the new
challenges and opportunities the EU faced such as human mobility, migration, advancements in
technology, and transnational terrorism. It highlighted the importance of security, as well as giving
emphasis to some of the problems the EU faced at tackling previous issues; one of them being the
matter of European defence.8 Even though the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) has
evolved since it was first introduced, there were multiple limitations to it: launching operations have
either failed or lagged, non-deployment of EU Battlegroups, institution of headquarters for EU
operations.9 “While the EU is not a military alliance it cannot ignore the ‘D’ in its CSDP.” 10 In the 2015
assessment it was pointed out that EU should pay more attention to its defence and security policies
in this new EU Global Strategy. This paper will focus largely on whether this strategy responds to the
priorities that were identified for Europe’s defence and security and evaluate how this strategy could
respond to future challenges.

Before the drafting and presentation of this new strategy, member states including Germany, France,
Italy, the Netherlands, and many others, expressed their stance on CSDP being considered as a key
element in the strategy. The G411 urged for CSDP to be included and play a central role in the EU
Global Strategy as a core instrument used to face new challenges of this rapidly evolving world. The
EU must consider strengthening its cooperation with NATO, as it cannot fight and respond to these
current challenges by itself anymore. Furthermore, Germany called for an integrated EU military in

6
Figure it out 2015
7
2015 igure ot
8
The EU in a changing global environment, June 2015, http://eeas.europa.eu/docs/strategic_review/eu-strategic-
review_strategic_review_en.pdf
9
Common Security and Defence Policy,
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/atyourservice/en/displayFtu.html?ftuId=FTU_6.1.2.html#_ftn2
10
2015 strategy pp 127
11
G4: Germany, France, Spain and Italy
their white paper on defence, that would deepen cooperation between Member States. The V4 12 and
the Netherlands both agreed that CSDP should be given a pivotal role in this strategy and the
creation of a ‘White Paper,’ to describe necessary tasks needed for the implementation of the Global
strategy, is necessary. The European Parliament’s response to the call for a stronger emphasis on
CSDP, stated that a key element of the strategy should be to implement “multinational military units,
joint defence forces, framing of a common defence policy.” 13 It emphasized, as well as other
individual states, that cooperation with NATO is vital to the security of Europe and that the Union
should pay attention to its defence policies and strengthen its position in NATO. Priorities emerged,
from Member States and the European Parliament that should have been considered by the
European Union Global Security Strategy.

The first priority, was to consider CSDP as a central and crucial factor in the strategy, as Member
States and the Parliament suggested. In terms of the actual Strategy, CSDP was not given a central
role, nonetheless, it is clearly reflected in EU’s alteration of thinking and reshaping their foreign
policy. With the evolution of threats, the EU could no longer follow the previous strategy in 2003,
which focused exclusively on promoting values and civilian power. This new strategy emphasized
‘principled pragmatism’14 which is a realistic approach to understanding new challenges and the
current state of this new strategical and geopolitical environment. More attention has been given to
Europe’s hard power and how it is essential in terms of the Union’s external policies.
The second priority, was to have a clear level of ambition, and prove that Europe “can be a credible,
effective and efficient security actor in its immediate region and beyond” 15 This is very important as
political will is what thrives incentives, and acknowledging possibilities for cooperation. The strategy
encompasses that it is Europe’s responsibility, in order to protect its citizens, to ensure peace within
the Union and even beyond its borders. It is Europe’s responsibility to become strategically
autonomous in terms of protecting itself and be able to respond to external crises that could
develop, as well as assist its strategic partners. The strategy emphasizes that “NATO remains the
unique and essential transatlantic forum for consultations on all matters,” however, its ambition to
become an autonomous military power is also portrayed.

The third priority is to maintain European Union and NATO cooperation as well as strengthening its
position and fulfilling its part as a member of this organization. Even though some states believed
that strengthening the EU’s defence policies would affect the EU-NATO relationship negatively, the
Global Strategy states that Europe should “shoulder more responsibility for their neighbourhood,
and further develop European defence capabilities” 16. The strategy declares that NATO will continue
to contribute to Europe’s security, a stronger CSDP will also benefit their transatlantic partnership
with the US. Europe’s defence should “be reinforced, because it leads to nowhere if [Europe] always
expects the United States to defend [them] if there is trouble” 17 The strategy addresses the fact that
a strong cooperation between the EU and NATO is vital for its survival and protection and it will
continue to do so to protect its citizens.

Federica Mogherini was instructed to create a new strategy as the 2003 document could no
longer respond to the growing threats that Europe faces, and could no longer take a passive stance in
dealing with certain challenges. Europe needed to address these new threats and to find a new
vision in order to protect and ensure the safety of their citizens. Europe could no longer ignore its
12
V4 (Visegrad Group): Hungary, Slovakia, Poland, Czech Republic
13
European Parliament resolution of 13 April 2016 on the EU in a changing global environment – a more connected,
contested and complex world (2015/2272(INI))
14
Figure it out
15
As stated by Dutch minister of defence, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert
16
2015 pp 141
17
http://www.kormany.hu/en/ministry-of-foreign-affairs-and-trade/news/the-european-pillar-of-nato-must-be-
reinforced
defence policies and had to set new and even more ambitious goals as well as have higher
expectations. Before drafting this new strategy, priorities of Member States and stakeholders were
considered and addressed in the document. An important factor that is understood from the
strategy is that Europe, will change its thinking in terms of foreign policy and pay more attention to
its defence by reinforcing both its hard and soft power. The pragmatic stance that this document has
taken makes its implementation more realistic as well as more accomplishable. Defence is not the
main idea of the EU Global Strategy, however it is certainly playing a critical role in making sure that
Europe implements this strategy and protects its citizens. The EU should take an active stance into
dealing and addressing these new challenges in this modernized and more complex world. This
stance makes the focus on security and defence necessary in order to respond to new threats that
could threaten Europe.

The Union’s cooperation with NATO is stressed in the document as it is important to maintain a
strong partnership with the United States. With Brexit taking place it is vital at sustaining this
relationship between Europe and the West. The emphasis on increasing defence budgets has not
been addressed fully, as the lack of financial support has been the reason for previous CSDP failures.
To answer the question on whether this strategy addresses new threats, it does understand that the
world is in fact evolving and becoming more complex. It addresses the need for more defence, in
order to ensure the safety of its citizens, however, not enough attention is given in transforming
Europe into a strategically autonomous continent. To conclude, the strategy responds to mane of
these priorities set by the Member States and shows Europe’s vision clearly and in a realistic manner,
however, it has given the Parliament as well as Member States the room to elaborate more on the
vision with a white book on how to implement these strategies and reinforce the continent’s defence
policies for a more secure Europe.